Readling Reflection Three - Designing Groupwork

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 describes group work as any task where a group of students can work on a self-directed task in which every student is involved. The chapter also says that to complete the task, students will need a little out of every group member, so that every student in the group has a role. The chapter also discusses the lack of difinitive research on the effectiveness of groupwork, however, from trial and error the author says that most teachers agree that groupwork is more effective than independent work. It is unfortunate, but at my school site this semester, I have yet to see any good examples of groupwork, based on what it is defined as in this book. The only times that the students have worked together it has been at their own direction with no clear reason as to why they are doing so.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2 discusses the reasoning behind why the author feels that groupwork is effective, as well as what additional knowledge is gained through the completion of groupwork tasks that is non-content related. The last section of the chapter talks about how groupwork can also be a key aid to a teacher in solving classroom problems. Groupwork will allow students to spend more time working on a given task, as the students hold each other accountable for their work. It also is a great form of differentiation, according to the author. Using my CP1 as an example, I have to agree that groupwork is a great aid to teaching. Not only does it allow students to better learn content-related material, but it is a way for students to keep an eye on each other's behavior. With 36+ students in a classroom, classroom discipline is more easily achieved with the students keeping each other on task.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 talks about the problems associated with groupwork tasks, including lack of participation from members of the group, and some group members taking a dominant role in the group. The chapter talks about the reasons that students take the roles they do in their group and how their roles in the group effect the outcomes of their learning. I have experienced this first hand in my clinical practice 1. Prior to me taking over, the students were allowed to work in groups with whomever they wanted, and the behavior problems discussed in this chapter were very similar to my experiences. When I began to take the time to plan the groups, assign roles, and determine exactly what the groups needed to accomplish, most of the problems were gone.

I feel like this book is being read too late within this program, as it seems that it is simply 'preaching to the choir' about groupwork. We have all been bombarded with the benefits of groupwork throughout the program, and most of us have had the opportunity to lead groupwork in our own classrooms. As far as what I would like to learn it would probably just be to gain more experience using groupwork on different tasks, and maybe how to better jump from independent work to groupwork and back seamlessly.

Week Two Reading Reflection - Disrupting Class

In reading the first chapter of Disrupting Class a few things really stood out to me. First is the intial description of multiple intelligences. I feel that this is a very important factor in teaching that is not focused on enough. Just because you learned something a certain way does not mean that everyone will learn it that way. Teachers need to broaden thier teachings to include all types of intelligences. The second thing that stood out was the description of interdependence. At first, reading the piece, I did not understand fully what the difference between  interdependence and modularity was. After the example, I can see how modularity in schools can provide for more flexibility, while interdependence of each of the parts will require changing everything in order to change just one piece. The last key piece of information that really stood out was the fact that those within a certain intelliegence do not necessarily realize they are in it, and thus, when they develop curriculum, texts, and lessons, often do not include factors that lead to the advancement of those from the other intelligences. This is key in understanding why some people are "just not good at math/English/science/etc.

The two main things I had follow up questions on were first, how do we begin to make these changes to focus on mulitple intelligences? I agree, as the chapter says, that student centered learning is the best way, since students will get a variety of angles to view and attack a problem, but there has to be more to it. The other lingering question is what makes it so hard to customize a student's learning experience in high school? I am sure there are plenty of reasons why, however, I can't seem to think of any and it seems like it would be a beneficial thing to the school and the students.

If there were one thing from the chapter I could learn more about it would be the funding issue. When the article talked about how special education students cost about two and a half times more money per year than traditional students, it caught my attention. In a way, I feel that this doesn't necessarily need to be the case, however, I also feel that every student should get the attention that they need, regardless of special education status.

Week One Reading Reflection - Rethinking High School

In the readings, Chapter 1 from Rethinking High School, I enjoyed reading about the definitions of best practices in high schools. I strongly believe in many of the items that were brought up such as authentic, holistic, and cognitive (higher level) instruction. I am still concerned with the use of standards in high schools, whether national or state, as it seems to have become somewhat of a bad word in the educational community. Although I do understand the necessity, I feel that what a student should know must be based on their specific community, goals in life, and environment that they are in. As far as investigating further, I would like to look closer at examples of those who have put all this theory into practice. As I continue with my Clinical Practice at a new school site, it seems to me that the story is still the same, and that for whatever reason, the school is still very resistant to any major change.

Finally, I loved this quote from the chapter:

"...we've had about eighty years of stasis in American high schools; and we could really use an earthquake."